The Iron Dice of Battle 

I highly recommend Mr Smith’s books

Tim is my favorite war in the west historian and author. Whether speaking statically or leading a Shiloh hike. If you take a shot every time he utters the phrase "and all that " you'll charge Grants last line all by yourself. Love me some Tim Smith!

As I say so often, so many books, so little time. And now another one which I must add to the list.

Outstanding in both the material covered and the manner of presentation.

This is book is at the top of my list! Cannot wait to review it. 🤩

merry Christmas

Great podcast 👏

The difficulty managing people who were your equal or superior and the problems with them following orders is not necessarily a function of the manager. I've been in that situation where the jealousy, bitterness, and resentment of the subordinates make them almost impossible to manage.

As von Steinwehr would have said - Ausgezeichnet! (excellent! )

I'm always asking myself if Johnston had sufficient intelligence when he formulated his battle plan to turn Grant's left and to drive him away from the river landing. Didn't he realize that Dill"s Branch posed a significant barrier to the success of that battle plan? If if not, why not? I would assume that that information was available to him if his staff had interviewed those who fled when Grant landed. Driving Grant away from the river landing was the immediate tactical goal of the attack on April 6th. One could argue that Johnston's battle plan bordered on gross recklessness in the absence of knowledge of the ground critical to that plan.

Great content! Is it known if Sidney Johnston was mounted or dismounted on that last attack he personally lead?

Why does the interviewer keep pronouncing his name Johnson (without the T ?) It’s JohnsTon

I kind of disagree with the premise that Lee learned from his mistakes, Lee constantly did the same thing over and over again. Lee attacked at Malvern Hill and got his men shredded, he watched at Fredericksburg how Union men got shredded, and then at Gettysburg went on to make the same mistake again. Also he constantly attacked regardless if it actually had operational or strategic value and he insisted upon fighting a napoleonic war. He was a great commander, one of the best, but he hardly learned from his mistakes because if he did he would have won.